Sometimes I offer to do these things for you and others; sometimes I’m asked. So I do them, although all the power in your life resides with you.
These are the verses I chant. You can chant them too.
This is the incense I light. You can light it too.
These are the books I keep in my Zen library. I share them with you.
This is the practice. It is the practice of all the buddhas. To sit even one moment like this is to sit as a buddha.
This is my place of practice. When you sit, we sit in the same place.
These are the magical powers — no more magical and no less magical than you are.
And yet none of these things is as powerful as the heart that seeks a true teacher.
This is where the real magic occurs.
***
Love Beyond Limits parenting workshop in Athens, GA Oct. 22
Thank you for waving your magic wand! Just ordered Kapleau’s book, hopefully commuting to and from the hospital will provide me with some reading time… (and I love the incense-rose smell in your garden!)
Comment by Roos — October 8, 2011 @ 9:49 pm
Thank you for the ‘nudge’.
Jim
Comment by Jim Cuvelier — October 9, 2011 @ 5:50 am
I want to sit more. Thank you.
Comment by Bobbi — October 10, 2011 @ 5:47 am
I always cringe when “true” is next to teacher. I imagine the kool-aid coming out after the incense. But that’s just me.
Comment by Chris — October 10, 2011 @ 6:52 am
The world is full of false teachers. They are the ones serving kool-aid. Strangely enough, most people drink it because kool-aid is sweet. That’s one way to tell the true – not always sweet.
Comment by Karen Maezen Miller — October 10, 2011 @ 6:59 am
“not always sweet” –So true.
ready for truth =
ready to forget everything you THOUGHT was true =
ready for a serious dose of discomfort
Not many go there. Not yet.
Comment by Connie — October 10, 2011 @ 9:07 am
I sit regularly for awhile, then something happens — I take a trip, get out of the routine, and it falls away for days and days, even after I get home. I have found if I don’t adhere to a fairly rigid daily routine I’m easily knocked off kilter. I’ve given up trying to convince myself that counting my breath while I cook dinner or vacuum, etc. is enough. Yes, my life is my practice, but there is something about that cushion and that spot and that position and that TIME that is grounding.
Comment by Kathryn — October 12, 2011 @ 7:26 am
True, Kathryn. Your life is not your practice unless you have a practice. There are no shortcuts.
Comment by Karen Maezen Miller — October 12, 2011 @ 7:35 am